Sixth Street substation opens next week

ON SAN FRANCISCO

Sixth Street is reflected in the window of the proposed new substation. A new San Francisco police department substation is being planned for the mid block area on Sixth Street between Market and Mission Streets, an area which has gotten plenty of police attention in the past.

Sixth Street is reflected in the window of the proposed new...

One of the biggest missing pieces to improving the chronically blighted strip of Mid-Market will finally move into place next week.

Starting Thursday, the long-promised police substation on Sixth Street opens. With it will come an increase in beat patrol officers who will use the substation as a staging area to restore a physical presence on the street.

"In 2009 we had 32 officers on Market Street," said Police Chief Greg Suhr. "As staffing waned (through retirement and attrition) the beat officers were down to 16. Now, with the graduation of a new academy class we are back up to 24. And as the next two or three classes graduate we will get back up to 32."

Not a moment too soon.

While we'd all love to buy into the narrative that tech businesses will transform Mid-Market into a lovely urban boulevard, it won't be that simple.

There's an established criminal element - from drug sales to smartphone muggings - to clean up. Cops on the streets will be key.

"I'm a Tenderloin guy," said Elvin Padilla, executive director of the Tenderloin Economic Development Project. "And nothing beats the men and women in blue walking up and down the street."

The new companies are clearly aware that the police presence is a part of the revival. Yammer, a business social network company that is moving into the Twitter building, has donated six computers to the substation.

"I think the pressure on the police will be greater," said Dr. Jack Sinow, an optometrist who moved his office to Sixth Street seven years ago. "And I think that will be a great thing for the city."

New businesses are the headline, but safe streets will decide whether the changes stick. Supervisor Jane Kim holds regular meetings with residents in the area's single-room-occupancy hotels, and a new theme has begun to emerge. "All of a sudden at our meetings public safety has become a topic," she said. "I asked them why they hadn't brought it up before, and they said they now feel confident in speaking up."

In, out of the budget

The area is part of the Southern Station police district, which is headquartered at the Hall of Justice several blocks away. Jenny McNulty, executive director of Urban Solutions, which has promoted small businesses along the Sixth Street corridor, has been advocating for the substation for three years.

"It was in the budget, it was out of the budget," she said. "We have been continuously putting pressure on the police to staff the substation so that we have police support closer than Southern Station."

The added forces will be critical in the coming months as the boarded-up windows are replaced with the influx of companies. Twitter is already up and running at 10th and Market streets, and Dolby is doing extensive renovations on its 16-story building at Ninth and Market with an expected opening in 2014.

9 tech firms

Since April 2011, nine tech companies have either moved in or committed to move into 950,000 square feet of Mid-Market space. Todd Rufo, the city's director of Economic and Workforce Development, is particularly pleased that neither Dolby nor Square was lured by the city program that excludes new Mid-Market businesses from paying payroll tax on new hires.

"Square and Dolby are not in buildings that qualify for the tax exclusion," he said. "That says we are willing to move into this area even without the tax incentive."

Mayor Ed Lee touts the Mid-Market revival, but he's aware that this is a trial period.

"Central Market is one of our most challenging areas," he said. "The progress is undeniable, but we have to continue our focus on developing partnerships with people who live and work there."